A little help from old friends
by Liffey
Summary: With only two weeks left they still haven't found a way out of Dean's deal. Dean get's sick, and they end up at the Roadhouse. Then a few friends are back, will they be able to help? Please read A/N. I misspelled "language" in the A/N, sorry!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

A/N: 

Two weeks before Deans time is up, he's getting ill and Sam brings him to the Roadhouse. There's still no plan to save Dean, but then a few people from their past come back into their lives. Are they able to help?

Contains Dean/Jo, later also Sam/Sarah, so if you don't like that, don't read it.

That there're no bullets for the colt will make sense later.

The Roadhouse never burned down in my story.

English is not my native langue, this story was worked with spell checking program, if there're still mistakes they are mine.

Reviews are always very welcome.

1.

Dean Winchester blinked, where the hell was he and how did he got here? He felt strange, not hurt or something, there were no wounds or even broken bones he could feel. He felt a little bit sick though, like he was getting a cold or something. He hadn't drunk; he was pretty sure about that. That wasn't the usual, 'get-pissed-and-wake-up-next-to-what-was-her-name-again-never-mind-a-hot-chick' moment, which happened once in a while and, more often lately to be honest. But who could blame him, he had, what, two weeks to live.

Dean let his eyes wander and found that he was in a very, very strange place. It was a small room, with a huge window. The sun was shining outside… He was lying in a single bed, covered with a pink blanket. Dean turned to his left side and saw an old and one eyed teddy bear sitting on the nightstand… 

Dean Winchester gulped; he was in hell two weeks before his time. That was the only way to explain this. 

Then he heard voices. It sounded a lot like a catfight, but Dean couldn't make out words. Then there was silence again. Dean's eyes searched the room for his cell phone, or even his trousers, because he just then realized that he was dressed in nothing more than his boxers under that flamingo colored blanked. 

"…don't make it worse,"said a voice somewhere, but still far away.

"Worse? I'll kill that bastard!"

Answered a voice much closer. It took Dean a moment to realize whose voice it was, but than he just gulped again and thought it would be the best to pretend to be sleeping… or even better dead.

The door opened and closed again with a bang and Dean couldn't help but flinch.

"What the hell where you thinking, Arse!"

Dean tried not to move, in fact, he almost forgot to breathe as well.

"Stop playing games, I know you're awake.

Dean blinked carefully. There she was, right in front of him, angry like a mama grizzly bear. He was almost relieved that she wasn't pointing a gun on him.

"It's nice to see you, too, Jo."

She was just starring at him, and he felt like a rabbit focused by a rattlesnake. It was the silence before the storm, he knew it. Any moment Jo would explode. And, the sad thing was, he couldn't blame her. He'd never called, though he'd promised. He knew that Jo had a massive crush on him, but she was still a girl, tough but also with a kind of innocence a Dean Winchester shouldn't get the chance to play with. Being with him was simply not what a girl like she deserved. He preferred his women out of his mind the next morning. Sure, even he had dreams about a home, a family, a normal life, but he knew that would never be. It would be unfair to go on a hunt, with two little children and a wife waiting for him, and even if he could stop hunting, he'd seen what had happened to Jessica. He'd seen what had happened to Sam's dreams. Still, he'd thought about her, dreamed about her. But then the deal was made and Dean knew he wouldn't get the chance to be in a serious relationship anymore. And so he'd spend the last months having fun with almost every girl he could pick up. 

"Jo listen, I wanted to call, but then…"

"Then you went and sold your soul," she interrupted him fiercely.

Dean felt his stomach drop, Sam had told her, or Ellen maybe.

"I had to save Sam," he answered calmly.

He waited for her to explode once again, but Jo simply stood there. Then he recognized something glittering on her cheeks.

"Come on, don't cry."

Jo shook her head, turned around and almost ran into Sam who'd just opened the door. She pushed past him and was gone. Sam looked after her, with a puzzled expression on his face then turned his attention towards his brother.

"What was that?"

But Dean also just shook his head. and looked away.

"Anyway, it's good to see you awake. You scared the hell out of me."

With hat Sam had his brother's attention back.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"We were on the road, talking about that werewolf we wanted to hunt and then, out of the blue, you collapsed. You almost send us into the trees," Sam said. Then a recognized the fear in his brothers eyes.

Sam sighed.

"The car is okay, it's you we're worried about."

"We?"

"We're at the Roadhouse; it was the nearest place to go. Bobby is coming, too."

Dean thought about it. The last thing he wanted was being trapped in a house with all his beloved ones when he had only two weeks to live. He had to get out of here as soon as possible. And maybe he should leave Sam behind. They hadn't a plan to get him out of the deal, yet. They had no idea what Bela did with the colt. And even if they would get their hands on that cold, they hadn't bullets for it. All thirteen had been used. He knew that Sam was working, searching, that he refused to give up hope, but Dean was sure that there was nothing to hope for. And the last thing he could stand would be two weeks full of chick flick moments. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

A/N: Checked with 'Works', if there're errors left, they are mine.

2.

Sam stepped out onto the veranda, night had fallen. Bobby had arrived 2 hour previously; he and Ellen were in the kitchen talking. Sam needed some air; it was the same theme over and over again. They needed the colt, shooting that demon the moment it tries to pull Dean into hell, was the only chance they had. Sure they could find a way to break the deal, but that would mean Sam had to die again and Dean had made more than clear that that wasn't an option. Sam sighed; Dean was weak right now, and maybe… Sam would die for him without hesitation. But he also knew Dean wouldn't survive this. He would more than sure kill himself and that would send him to hell as well. Or worse, turn him into an evil spirit. And he, Sam Winchester, was maybe the only person who was able to stop Lillith. And Lilliths rise could mean the end of the world. The death of everyone he knew. A big lump formed in his throat.

"I can't fight this war without you," he whispered into the darkness.

Suddenly he sensed that he wasn't alone, and sure, there was a small figure sitting at the other end of the veranda. Sam took a deep breath and walked over.

"Hey Jo, you're okay?"

Jo smiled weakly up at him; her eyes were puffy and red.

"You're?"

Sam shook his head no.

"No I'm not. Do you mind if I sit down?"

This time Jo shook her head no.

"Sam, look, I feel stupid. I'm just a little schoolgirl with a crush, but you…"

"Don't believe that," said Sam quickly." That was not me speaking, though I'm sorry about what happened in Duluth. I'm sure in another life, you and Dean… He really likes you."

"That's not what I wanted to say," answered Jo with a little sad smile. "I'm going to lose the man I have a crush on, a friend, and I feel like the world will end that day. How bad must you feel?"

Sam barely whispered his answer.

"When Jessica died, I told myself, that I couldn't do that again. Mom died, I can't even remember her; but she died because of me, because that demon wanted me. Jessica died, and it was my fault as well. I never told her about my childhood, about hunting, about my family. First I was afraid, she wouldn't date me anymore if I would told her, then I fell really hard for her. I still have that ring I bought. I wanted a life without ghosts, demons and that entire folk out there in the dark. I should have told her, I should have taught her how to protect herself. Dad, well he died saving Dean, but I should have known that he was planning something like that. If we just could have stopped fighting for a moment, worked together, then we'd found another way. And now Dean. He's not only going to hell and I can't stop it, he's going to hell because of me. It destroys me, eats me away. I don't know how to survive that day. But I have to, I have something to do."

"Lillith,"whispered Jo."Mom told me about her."

"It's not fair, Jo. Dean doesn't deserve hell. He's saved so may people from evil things. He risked his life almost every day. Nobody asked him, if he wanted a little brother, that was followed be a demon because he's special. Nobody asked him, if he wanted this life. Dean just stepped into Dads boots. He cared for me, when I was little and Dad was out hunting. He cared for Dad when he came back from a hunt injured or simply broken by what he'd seen. "

"We'll find a way," said Jo and smiled weakly.

Sam's cell phone interrupted them. He checked the ID and stood up.

"Sarah?"

"You've what?"

"You're where?"

"Harristown? Car problems… okay… I want you to book a motel room, and buy salt, you've got salt? Put it on the windows and the door, I'll be with you in five hours."

Sam hung up and walked towards the Impala, he had totally forgotten that Jo was still there.

"Sam?" She asked puzzled, but he was already into the car and had started the machine.

Ellen opened another bottle of beer for Booby and returned to the table they'd been sitting at.

"Dean is a good guy Elle," said Bobby. "A big child maybe, but who can blame him, he'd never the chance to be a child in the first place."

Ellen sat down again.

"I don't trust him with Jo," she smiled sadly.

"Neither would I," grinned Bobby. "Dean and girls, that's a long story, Will she be okay?"

Ellen sighed.

"We all have lost precious people, haven't we? She'll bleed, but she'll survive. It's Sam I'm worried about. He'll lose the last bit of family he has. "

"Dean's more than a part of his family'. He's his brother, but also something like a second mother and a second father to him. John had work to do; John was determined to find that son of a bitch that killed his wife. Dean was the one who tucked Sam in at night, cooked him soup when he was sick, held him when he had nightmares. And Dean was the one with the shotgun next to his bed, ready to protect his little brother with his life. I should have known that Dean would do something stupid, when Sam died. But on the other hand Dean hadn't survived without Sam either. "

Ellen took a deep gulp from her bottle.

"We have to save Dean, or will lose both."

Dean had been sleeping like a baby, but his instincts woke him the second somebody stepped into his room.

"You're back."

"I'm only here to collect a few of my things," snapped Jo's voice somewhere in the dark room.

He could hear her opening the wardrobe.

"You need light?"

"I'm fine, thank you very much."

"Someone's still pissed, huh?"

He could hear her inhale sharply.

"Just shut up and let me grab some clothes."

"So this is your room?"

Jo didn't answer him and that should have been warning enough for every other guy, but not Dean Winchester.

"Your undies in there, too?"

There was eerie pause and Dean could hear her moving toward the door. He wondered if he should apologize before she could run away again. He never wanted to hurt her, or get her angry, it was the only way he knew to talk to a woman. But then Jo spoke calmly.

"You know what Dean. I like you; I even like those stupid jokes. But that doesn't matter anymore, because you chose to keep me out of your life. So stop trying to pull me in again with those stupid pick up lines, now that it's almost over. All you're looking for is another one night stand; all I'm facing is…"

Jo opened the door to leave.

"…never mind."

Charles Parker had been a hunter for almost twenty years. He'd seen almost everything you could imagine, or not. He'd seen vampires before, killed vampires before, but he'd never been so stupid to run into a trap set up by a bunch of them. But then, when did you ever here about a vampire girl working on a gas station? Vampires usually didn't work for their money. But then, when this was a trap, maybe the real owner of that gas station was already bloodless and cold.

So, the last thing Charles knew, before he woke up again, tied to a chair, was stepping into the little selling room of that damned gas station…

"I'll ask you one last time," said the leader, a cute girl with a mouth full of not so cute shark teeth. "Where are the Winchesters? Hat's all we want to know and then you're free to go."

Charles flinched, he almost peed himself because he was so scared, but he couldn't let fellow hunters down, could he?

"I don't know, haven't seen them in months."

The girls face was now so close; he could smell iron in her breath. Charles had seen a lot, but that smell almost made him throw up. He would call them; he would get out of here and warn them.

"The Roadhouse. At least Ellen should know where to find them. They are close."

The girl smiled at him.

"The location, please."

Charles Parker had finished the word Nebraska when his world went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: They are not mine.

A/N: Sorry that it took me so long to update, I have the end of this story already in my head, but getting there is more difficult then I thought. But I will. Promise. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and will review!

Again checked with Vista, English is still not my native tongue, again all remaining errors are mine.

3.

Sam parked the Impala in front of the Roadhouse and woke Sarah, who'd been sleeping for the last hours curled up into the seat. She blinked and saw three people waiting on the on the veranda. Sarah hesitated; those people looked so different from the upper class people she was usually surrounded by. And the fact that each one had a shotgun in one hand, didn't made her feel more comfortable with the situation either. There was an older man, with a thick beard and a baseball cap on his head, who eyed her with suspicious but in a strange way also warm eyes. There was a woman, maybe her mother's age, she had a handsome face, but a hard life had left his traces on it. Next to her stood a girl in her own age, she was beautiful, with long golden hair, but there were dark shadows under her eyes and she looked very pale and almost fragile to Sarah.

Sam recognized Sarah's worried looks and smiled.

"They are ok."

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"They have shotguns."

"I told you, you should have given me the journal and head home. This isn't a movie, Sarah," answered Sam.

Sarah touched his hand quickly and gave him an encouraging smile.

"And I told you, I'm not leaving you alone in this."

Sam gave her a warm smile in return, unable to say "thank you".

"So, the guy, that's Bobby. He's gruff, but he has one of the hugest hearts in the world. He's almost like a second father for Dean and me. The woman, that's Ellen, you're not Dean, so I think you have nothing to fear from her."

Sam chuckled when he saw the puzzled look Sarah gave him.

"And the girl's name is Jo."

"Let me guess, the reason why Ellen is after Dean?"

Sam nodded

"Strange bunch."

"Wait till you meet Dr.Badass,"mumbled Sam under his breath.

Dean Winchester had watched the whole scene from his window. So Sarah was here. Good for Sammy; he knew that they liked each other. She'd brought something with her, but he couldn't make out what it was. Maybe something from her Dad's stuff that was cursed or haunted. Dean went back to bed only seconds to early and missed the moment when everyone turned and looked up at the window he'd just left.

"We should tell him," said Ellen.

"Let's be sure first," answered Bobby.

xxxxx

Dean knew that it was Sam, when a person stepped into his dark bedroom. But he pretended to be asleep; he wasn't in the mood to talk. Or to see Sarah. He knew Sarah could be one of the few persons who were able to help Sam trough this, and he'd been glad when he found out, that Sam was calling her regularly a couple of months ago. But, Dean couldn't explain it to himself, it hurt to see them. It reminded him that he would never have that, that he would be gone soon. That life would go on. Sam would probably return to Stanford, to law school, become a lawyer. Well at least, that would mean that they would meet again in hell one day, thought Dean with a sarcastic little smile. Jo would probably find a good husband, hopefully one who was able to keep her out of hunting and trouble. Ellen would probably become a grandmother one day and a hell of a mother in law. And Bobby, well Bobby would return to his house and maybe raise another cute little puppy into a to lazy to be really dangerous rottweiler.

And one day Dean wouldn't be more than a memory. They would forget the color of his eyes, or the way he used to talk, just like he'd trouble to remember how his mother used to look.

xxxxx

He must have fallen asleep over those thoughts, because when he awoke, another night was slowly turning into dawn. There he was, only days left and he wasted them sleeping. He should get out of here, to Vegas or something.

But then Dean realized that there was someone standing at the window. A small, fragile silhouette against the blue light of early morning.

"Jo?"

She turned and gave him a small smile, then turned back to the window again.

Dean slipped out of bed almost soundless, walked towards her and touched her shoulder carefully.

A cold shiver ran down her spine, followed be a warm one.

"Dean…" she said weakly, but he rested his head on her shoulder and hugged her from behind.

"Don't talk," he said and she knew that he was right. There was nothing to talk about. There was nothing they could do. They needed each other; they needed to feel the other close. She reached behind her and slipped a hand under his shirt. But to her surprise, he removed her hand carefully. She turned her head towards him and looked at him hurt and confused. The truth was, she was scared; she knew that there was a huge chance that she would lose him soon, but she was ready to do this, do this for him, so why was she rejected?

"But…?" she asked.

He placed a small, almost innocent kiss on her cheek.

Jo closed her eyes and prepared herself for another "wrong-time-wrong-place" speech, maybe the demon in Sam had told her the truth and she was nothing but a little sister in his eyes.

"Can I ask you for something?" he asked.

Jo opened her eyes again and stared at him and he smiled shyly almost as if he was afraid of what he had to say.

"Sure."

"I know time is running out, but tonight, can we… can we just keep this close?"

Jo nodded. She'd been prepared to give him her body, because she'd thought, that was exactly what Dean wanted, maybe needed. It was something Dean knew, was used too. Sure, Jo wanted it, too. She'd dreamed about kissing him, touching him, all that stuff since she'd first met him. But now she understood what he really needed, what he'd probably missed for a very long time. It wasn't hot sex, it was love.

"Okay," she said.

They kissed and it was nothing like the kiss she'd expected if they would ever kiss. It was just as innocent as the kiss he'd given her before, just his lips on hers and vice versa, no tongues no teeth. Then he rested his head on her shoulder again, his arms tightly wrapped around her. When he finally spoke, his voice was just a whisper next to her ear.

"Thanks."

xxxxx

"Jo?!"

Jo jumped at the voice of her mother. Dawn had turned into a sunny morning but Dean and she hadn't moved an inch till now. They parted as if caught in the act and Dean quickly made his way back to the bed. Not a moment to soon because not only Ellen but also Sam, Bobby and Sarah entered the room.

Dean couldn't help but grin, almost caught in a chick flick moment.

"Sarah, what brings you here?" He asked surprised, not really selling it.

"Good news, Dean, "answered Sam and Dean suddenly realized that his brother looked different, relieved, happier. What the hell was going on? He looked at Jo, who was smiling, a shade of pink on her cheeks, and Dean couldn't tell if it was there because of their little secret or something else.

"Sarah found this journal," said Sam finally.

Dean looked up at his younger brother with confusion on his face.

"And?"

"It's Samuel Colt's journal. We knew how to make bullets for the colt," smiled Sam.

xxxxx

"We should go and find a place to sleep."

The woman cast a last glance towards the roadhouse, before she followed the man back to the car that was parked hidden beyond some trees. She opened the car door and looked up at him.

"We'll return tonight."

He glared at her across the roof of the car.

"I still think that's a bad idea. They are hunters, we could get ourselves killed."

"Tonight," said the girl and sat down behind the wheel.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry about the delay, this is the sixth version of this chapter I wrote and the first one I liked enough to post. It's not that good… sorry about that, too.

Checked with Vista, remaining errors are mine.

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

He watched them from the corridor; they were sitting at the kitchen table, again. Dean knew that they were searching for a way to save him and in one way that filled him with something he hadn't felt in a very long time. He felt warm, maybe loved, maybe even at home. But the other side of the coin was that it was dangerous. The crossroad demon had made it more than clear, weasel out and your brother drops dead. And Dean had no idea where "weasel out" would start, sure they were far from breaking the deal, but where was the line they shouldn't cross?

Dean watched as Sam slammed his fist onto the table in frustration and how Ellen put a comforting hand on his forearm. Next to Ellen sat Jo, she looked tired, and Dean felt ashamed. Ever since the deal was made he'd thought a lot about Jo, if or not he should tell her, if she had a right to know, or if she had a right to live a life untroubled by this. He liked her and maybe more, but even before he had sold his soul, he'd thought that they would never end up as a couple. Sammy was his responsibility, keeping him save, keeping him on the right side; there was no time for romance. Picking up a girl in a bar once in a while had to be enough, at least until Sam was saved, and Dean couldn't tell how long that would take. So he'd told himself that Jo deserved more, that a girl like she would find someone better. But sometimes he wondered if he was letting go something better then he would ever find again.

She pushed her hair out of her face, and Dean longed to touch it, do it for her so badly that his hand moved unconsciously. He sighed, as much as he wanted to be close to her, it wasn't fair to put that on her shoulders. Dean knew that giving in into an affair, would help him, would create a memory he could recall and hold onto until hell would take the memory of being human once from him. But it would also be a memory that would haunt Jo, would remind her until the day she died and probably longer that she'd lost him, that he had moved on to a place worse than this. He knew that she would morn him, but he also wanted her ready to move on one day. Dean cast one last glance at her, than turned away and walked down the corridor towards the bar and front door. He wished Sam would have never taken him here. Just the two of them on the road till the end that was what Dean had wished for. He'd never imagined that he would spend the last days of his life surrounded by the people he loved. Yes, Dean Winchester loved people; he loved his brother, had loved him ever since that evening his mother had called him over to the sofa and made him touch her swollen belly so he could feel the baby inside move. He also loved Bobby, he was like a second father to him, and Ellen had become something close to a second mother to him over the last two years. Ash, well he was pretty sure that love was the wrong word here because Ash was a very strange freak even for a Winchester, but he'd come to trust him, and seeing that Ash tried as hard as everyone else to save him, gave Dean the urge to buy him a present for next Christmas, if there would be a next Christmas for him. He didn't knew Sarah that well to say that he loved her, but she was good for his brother, and she was Dean's biggest hope when it came to "who will save Sam after I'm gone." Jo? Yes, he loved her, in a way that made him want to call her Joanna and it scared him. He'd thought that he'd once loved Cassie, but that was before he'd crossed paths with

Jo. He'd also thought that he could stay away from those feelings, especially after he'd made his deal, simply by staying away physically; it had worked more or less until his brother had dragged him back to the Roadhouse. Now all he wanted was to talk to her, tell her about his feelings, make sure that she would be okay when he was gone, but he had no idea how to manage that. He'd rather spend his last days killing some fugly monsters, monsters he knew, but this was totally alien to him.

It was a humid evening and Dean wondered if the thunderstorms that had lit the last nights where an omen of what was coming. Days to go. There was thunder in the distance, low and barely audible it almost sounded like a growl. He walked into the meadow that stretched behind the roadhouse. When he'd been younger they had sometimes spend the day at places like this. When ever his father had finished a job, but was in trouble with the local police he'd grabbed his sons from the motel and they had been on the road for hours until he'd stopped in the middle of nowhere and had surrendered to sleep. Dean had taken Sam outside, so that John could sleep undisturbed and they had played hide and seek between trees or they had sat in the middle of a meadow and Dean had taught his little brother names of flowers, birds, butterflies and bugs. Names his mother had told him, when she'd taken him to the park the summer before Sam had been born.

"Mom? Are butterflies fairies?"

"Can you keep a secret honey? My Granny told me once that butterflies are…"

"Butterflies are souls, caught in purgatory not pure enough to enter heaven right now, but to good to go down to hell, too."

Dean turned around started and saw a petite, dark haired, familiar girl standing there; it took him some seconds to realize who she was.

"You're dead."

Her laughter was warm, nothing creepy in it at all.

"I'm sorry, but I thought you would be kind of used to seeing dead people now and then."

"You are a ghost then?"

She smiled again, and stepped towards and then past him.

"More a spirit. Let's take a walk."

She waved her hand to follow him and Dean caught up with her after a few steps.

"What happened, Nancy?"

"That girl showed up. A cute little girl, she was a demon, she blow up the whole station. Everyone died."

Dean nodded.

"I'm sorry."

She turned around and smiled at him.

"Don't be."

There was a pause then Dean asked what had been burning on his tongue ever since her spirit had appeared.

"Why are you here?"

"I was send," she answered and sat down. Her small body almost vanished into the high grass. Dean sat down next to her and watched her picking a daisy.

"By whom?"

She smiled at him again.

"I'm sorry Dean, I can't give away that. Not yet."

Something dawned to him…something rang a bell.

"You're a reaper?"

She shook her head laughing.

"No. I'm not. I'm just a girl who died a bit…uhm…too soon," she paused and seemed to think about something," Tell me Dean, will you regret things?"

He stared at her puzzled.

"Did you?"

She raised her eyebrows.

"I died being a virgin and you ask me that?"

He managed a shy grin.

"Tell me you're not here for that, I'm maybe a bit out of time, but I'm still not into dead chicks."

She blushed; imagine that, a blushing ghost.

"I'm not. But I have to admit, that I maybe would have made a move on you when thing had turned out different. But then, dieing a virgin had his good sides, too."

It was Dean's turn to raise his eyebrows.

"I'm pretty sure you've lost that a while ago, so there's no need for you to know," said Nancy, then there was another pause filled with thinking," She would regret it, you know."

"Who would regret what?"

"That girl. She loves you, you know?"

Dean crossed his arms in front of him, his face suddenly very serious.

"And that's exactly why I'll stay away from her. There's no need to break her heart."

"You know what is ironic, she's fighting for you, more than you're fighting for yourself," answered Nancy sternly but continued softer before he had any chance to response, "anyway, that's not why I'm here. I have an important question, and I need an answer. If you would have known that I would die no matter what, would you have let that demon sacrifice me?"

His answer came fast and without thinking about it.

"No!"

"But it probably would have saved everybody else."

"And I wouldn't be better than those demons. That's the difference, that's maybe the difference that will let them win in the end, but I won't waste an innocent person. And I don't think that the others would have survived anyway. Lillith or her demons would have found them sooner or later, because you all had seen and knew that was out there. That's what I'm sorry about; I should have found ways to keep all of you save."

Nancy just nodded.

"What?" asked Dean.

"I got my answer."

"That's good for you, but…"

"I want you to fight, because you, with the help of your friend, can make it."

"But Sam."

"I probably shouldn't tell you that, but Sam is cursed with demonic blood, right? He's the chosen soldier. Watch out for humans than, and don't fear demons."

Dean thought about it.

"You are saying that demon's can't harm him?"

She shrugged.

"I'm saying that humans can, that you can."

Nancy touched his forehead so quickly that it made him jump, but before he could get farther away the meadow melted before his eyes and his vision became blurred. All that was left was her voice saying softly "Let me show you" and then suddenly he was sitting in a graveyard, in the middle of the night. A cold shiver ran down his spine when he his eyes had adjusted to the sudden darkness and he spotted the headstone in front of him. A headstone with his own name on it. Movement in the darkness caught his trained eyes; but seconds later he recognized the shape and the way the person moved.

"Sammy," he whispered.

Sam was older, maybe four or five years, thinner and paler than he remembered. When he walked past Dean he could see dark shadows under his eyes Sam knelt in front of the headstone, Dean stood up and walked behind the stone to have a better look, he was shocked when he could see tears on his brother's cheek.

"It's over," said Sam with a sad smile," the war is won, but what's the price? Ellen, Bobby, Ash all of them…and Jo…who can blame Sarah for taking the kid and leaving after that. They are save now, I checked on them. She'll go to school this year. She's growing up in a better world now. Sarah will look after her and I think she'll be saver without me around anyway. Who knows if and when the evil will return, and I had to do a lot of evil things to win this war. I'm not proud of it. Maybe there is more, other, work to do, but I'm so tired Dean, and I can do this no more. I understand now why you couldn't fight anymore. I'm so sorry."

Sam still smiled but Dean watched in horror as his little brother raised a gun and put it to his head…

"NOOOO!"

"Dean!"

He realized that he was back on the meadow again, lying flat on his back, Nancy was gone; instead Jo's worried face was hovering over him.

"I've been searching for you!"

Dean shook of the last images of his dream…or what ever it had been and sat up.

"I'm fine."

"I should go and get Bobby or Sam," said Jo and was about to move but Dean grabbed her wrist.

"It's okay."

He stood up and next to her. Jo felt herself shivering when he looked her straight into the eyes. Something had changed into his eyes; she just couldn't put her finger on it. Then he reached for her hand carefully. It was still wrong, it would still hurt once the deal would come due, but maybe it would hurt just as much if they would chose the other way. Dean knew it would, different reasons, same damned pain, and in the end, all they could do was make here and now better.

"Come, walk with me," he said softly.

The thunder was much closer now, but Dean didn't care. Soft rain was falling on the leaves above them, but it wasn't enough to reach their more or less naked bodies.

"Jo?" he asked.

"Uhm?"

"We should go back to the roadhouse soon. If your mom comes out and finds us like this…"

He could feel her smile against his skin.

"You're still afraid of my mom?"

It was his first honest laugh in a long time.

"After all I've seen nothing is as scary as a pissed Ellen Harvelle."

"My father used to say that I'm a lot like her," she whispered innocently against his neck.

He bent down to kiss her but stopped when there was a crack of wood that made both of them jump, followed by a gruff voice.

"I think we're interrupting something."

"What are you talking…oh…," said another softer female voice.

"You?!" asked Dean and reached for his shirt to cover Jo who was, to be honest, covering him.

He held her there with a tight grip, ready to spin them both around to have her protected if needed. Jo tried to turn her head to get a better view, but could only see a young woman in jeans and t-shirt and the left half of a huge muscle packed guy.

"Who are they?"

"Vampires," said Dean and felt Jo tense.

"Mom said there's no such thing."

"It get's better," joked Dean, but his eyes never left the two beasts, "They are good vampires… at least they were when I last met them."

"We still feed on cattle blood," said the girl.

"And it still tastes bad," added the guy.

"What are you doing here, Leonore? And why can't it wait until we are dressed of the occasion?" asked Dean.

Leonore smiled at them.

"We heard about that deal of yours. We've got something that will help you."


End file.
